October Update

Jees, now it's really almost the middle of November....where is the time going? I can't get a grasp on how fast it's really flying by.

October was a super busy month. In an effort to suppliment the slow swimming seasion I have officially become a consultant for a company called Thirty One. They sell all kinds of cute stuff, and for a momma who's as organized as I am, thier stuff is RIGHT up my ally.

Swimming is still going great! It's just slower in the fall and winter, however we are still going strong and we have just passed our 250th student. Actually I think we are closer to 300 now. It's been a wonderful year and I'm blessed to have things turning out this way! (Now if only I could find a way to have my own pool, I'd be set)

On to the babies....

Aiden is c-r-a-z-y BIG. He's talking all the time and he's such a great help when it comes to his little sister. He still has his moments but for the most part he's doing such a good job! He's learning so much at school and he has now mastered his new bike with training wheels. He's swimming once a week with one of my other instructors and he's doing such a great job. He's almost swimming on his own (CRAZY I KNOW).

Avery has been another story. Since my return from Florida our nights have been really difficult. She was waking every hour or every other hour. Basically she was using me as a pacifier and soother. We took her to her 6 month checkup (AGAIN, I KNOW....the time thing, RIGHT??) and she's growing beautifully. During our appointment I asked the doctor about letting her cry it out. We didn't let Aiden cry it out until he was 9 months old, but then again, we didn't need to either. He slept very well at day one. The doc basically told me that when I'm ready to get sleep, she's ready to cry it out. Needless to say, "operation Ferber" began that evening and so far SOOOOOO GOOOOOOOOOD!! The last three nights she's slept for almost 12 hours. Oh, and we also stop swaddling her which I'm assuming has helped too. YAY AVERY!!

She's an eating machine too. I don't know how she's still so tiny because the girl will put down some serious food. She'll eat two stage 1 foods a meal and then down a bottle of milk. She's definitely my daughter..hehe!

Halloween was a blast. This year the Callas family dressed up as Toy Story 3. The photo speaks for itself:

We had a blast and I'm already planning next year's costumes!!

Sleep, what's that??

Teeth....something that I really dislike at the moment. Why you ask?? Well Avery has been teething now for three months and there is NOTHING to show for it. The last two weeks have been a nightmare. She's not sleeping, and she's waking up every hour or other hour. It's really made my life a crazy world. I'm just waiting for those pearly whites to pop on out and say hello. I wish they would hurry!

Aiden Monster

Wowsers...now that I'm home with Aiden I get so see how much he changes from day to day. I also get a hand full of his monsterness (I know that's now a word but for today it is) too. He's really testing my boundaries with everything. Any time I take something away from him, he throws a fit...flopping himself onto the ground and flailing his extremites about.

I am trying the 1-2-3 method with him. It seems to be working. I'll keep you posted on how it's going!

OH..and it seems as though he's beginning to regress with sleeping. Things were going so well for so long and now he's waking up at 3am and WON'T GO BACK TO SLEEP. What....what....what? Maybe he's growing...by his eating habits you would think so :)

We are also trying to get rid of the pacifier. Now I know why they say to not introduce it in the first place..if only I had listened. He's using it only at sleep time but if he spots it (which he can usually do from across the planet) that's when all heck breaks lose. I have to try to discract him but 9 out of 10 times it doesn't work.

Ah, the life of a toddler...